Radio Road Which tuner to get and getting the most from it. Thank God, for the radio!

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Wow! Forgot just how good FM can sound, given the program material... (meandering)

Posted by Dman (A) on October 21, 2014 at 06:25:46

I hadn't fired up my Dynaco FM-3 in a few months, other than making sure it survived the move from Canada to Florida and to Wichita.

First, a little history- my mentor, Lloyd Flemming (of Flemming Audio Lab Triode Model 3 preamp fame, for you Positive Feedback back issue readers) gave me one of his FM-3s after I commented that I didn't have a decent FM tuner. This particular model has his "black box" PSU, which incorporates the original power tranny, caps and all that sorta stuff, coupled with a rather military-looking Amphenol connector and cable. Noise levels in the tuner itself are significantly reduced. I had checked and set the alignment per the manual when we moved to Wichita, but hadn't run it since...

Anyway-

At the suggestion of the D-wife the other night (she wanted nice mellow jazz as background music), she suggested, "why don't you put on the radio and see if that NPR station still has jazz at night?"

"Okay", I thought. "This should be a bit of a laugh." I powered up the FM-3, and within a minute the glow of that funky tuning tube began, and the stereo indicator light, like fluorescent curtains, came into being. I had already set the station to the local NPR (89.1 from Wichita State). But I wasn't prepared for what issued forth!

In a word, yowsers! No hiss. Clean, clear reception (from a wall mounted, DIY dipole behind the plasma TV, no less!). The station was still tuned bang-on! What a glorious presence and warmth to the sound. Even D-1wife was astounded at just how good things sounded. Mind you, we could both pick out when the compression/limiting of the station kicked in and out (some things never change), but that didn't change the magic of good tunes and voices being broadcast from a decent station (and yes, for you analog die-hards, the music was off of CDs, but...).

I put it down to two things;

1. WSU is only about 10 or so miles away, with nearly a straight line of sight to the tower.

2. NO MULTIPATH! Most of Kansas is pretty flat, and the area between us and WSU is no exception. The result was no multipath noise, a relatively high S/N, and a minimum of distortion.

And maybe a 3rd;

The FM-3 (when properly aligned), is a great sounding way to get FM. Yes, it isn't the most sensitive out there, and it probably would have fallen flat on its face in a multipath ridden area (any NYC'ers have a Dyna FM-3? I'd love to hear how you cope!).

Sorry if I'm starting (?) to wax poetic, but I just had to share this moment with you. After all, isn't this what its all about; enjoying great music in your home with decent gear?

Cheers,
Dman
Analog Junkie

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